VIENNA, 28 May 2018 – Greater co-ordination among states in their work to combat trafficking in children, with a focus on those at particular risk, is needed to effectively combat this form of human trafficking, participants said today at the opening of a two-day OSCE meeting in Vienna.

The meeting, organized by the Italian OSCE Chairmanship, with the support of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and in co-ordination with the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, brings together representatives of governments and of civil society organizations to address the prevention of child trafficking and the related protection of minors, including specific measures for unaccompanied minors.

“Combatting the trafficking of children remains a priority for the OSCE, but further efforts are required to eradicate this unacceptable human rights violation and heinous crime. Strong attention must be dedicated to children at risk and particularly to unaccompanied minors, especially exposed among the vulnerable,” said Ambassador Alessandro Azzoni, Chairperson of the OSCE Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Italy to the OSCE. “The discussions at this meeting will provide a solid foundation on which participating States can build to strengthen the OSCE commitments in addressing the special protection needs of unaccompanied minors and secure their right to be children.”

Madina Jarbussynova, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, said: “The 2017 Alliance conference on ‘Trafficking in Children and Best Interests of the Child’ highlighted the need to better co-ordinate governmental efforts to protect children and confirmed that effective and functional child protection systems can significantly reduce the risks of trafficking and create favorable conditions for identifying and assisting child victims. I remain convinced that adopting a multi-disciplinary and inclusive approach to combating child trafficking, including in crisis-inflicted scenarios that directly or indirectly affect children’s security and welfare, is the only way for us to succeed in combating the scourge of child trafficking.”

Noting that more than two-thirds of child trafficking victims in the OSCE region are girls, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of ODIHR, stressed that combatting trafficking in children had to include efforts to directly target demand.

“The power of the recent and galvanizing #MeToo movement, and the impact it is having in ending impunity for sexual harassment and sexual violence against women and girls, is particularly important to integrate into combating the trafficking in girls,” the ODIHR Director said. “We would not be here today if there was no demand generated for children by paedophile ‘buyers’ or demand for cheap goods produced by trafficked children, who are often invisible in supply chains. Efforts to prevent child trafficking should prioritize impactful strategies to address demand.”

In a keynote video address, United States Member of Congress Christopher Smith, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on Human Trafficking Issues, told participants that better sharing of information would make such efforts more effective.

“It is the duty of government to protect the weakest and most vulnerable, especially children who are at risk or who are victims of trafficking,” Smith said. “Child predators thrive on secrecy – a secrecy that allows them to commit heinous crimes against the weakest and most vulnerable. We can prevent child trafficking by keeping track of known child predators, and by notifying destination countries when they are traveling abroad.”

The Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting is aimed at providing guidance on how to design and implement sustainable mechanisms to ensure a victim-centred and child-friendly human rights-based approach in countering human trafficking, including through multi-agency approaches and partnerships. The event will also provide a forum for identifying and discussing promising practices and challenges in this respect in the OSCE region.

“May 2018 is a good opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved for children and what has not – and to note the urgent need to tackle obstacles that prevent essential action being taken to protect children from exploitation,” Mike Dottridge, independent human rights expert, said in his keynote address at the event.